Albert Steenkamp, Information Security Specialist at Discovery, said:
in cyber[–>security A world with a lot of focus on different methods[–>AI Although it can be used to infiltrate systems and automate attacks, we still need to pay attention to the basics of cybersecurity, says Albert Steenkamp. information security specialist discovery.
“Everyone likes to push AI into the world. If a solution doesn’t have AI in its title, it’s seemingly worthless. But the problem is, if you don’t have a secure foundation, you can’t put anything on top of it. In a world where AI becomes as privileged as it is, you need to get the basics right,” he says.
Steenkamp’s primary area of experience is with Microsoft.[–>identity Access management tools, Active Directory and Entra. As AI and agents become increasingly deployed throughout the enterprise in the coming months, he believes fundamental questions need to be asked about the level of access and privileges granted to AI and AI agents.
“For the next year or so, how do we protect AI and AI agents, and what data do they have access to? Who has access to that AI? How can that AI be compromised? The key challenges for the next year will be to protect it, reduce the proliferation of identity and privileges, and increase visibility around it.”Microsoft didn’t provide any visibility into that, but now we’ve released some tools that provide that. Once we have visibility and insight into what’s going on with those agents, we’ll soon see how much of a world we’re suffering from. ”
He says computer accounts are often overlooked. “The main issues that businesses need to consider are around the provisioning and deprovisioning of accounts, such as regular user accounts, service accounts, and computer accounts. Computer accounts are often forgotten, but they can still be accessed.”
Steenkamp will be speaking at the Johannesburg venue of ITWeb Security Summit 2026 on the topic “Active Directory and Entra Security: Beyond the AI Talk and Establishing the Fundamentals for Evolving Threats.”
Early registration is now being accepted. Register and pay by February 6th to receive a super early bird discount of 25%. Click here to register.
